Second Chances
by sameoldsinead
Summary: What if Erik had come back to Charles after the Cuba incident to make sure he was okay? What if Charles had convinced him to stay? Everyone deserves a second chance. Alternate ending to the sad Cuba divorce scene. Erik/Charles, rating may change.
1. Old Habits Die Hard

_Hey, I just got a fanfiction account the other day because I've always read a lot, but I've never contributed and I thought I'd give it a try for once. This story is basically what I WISH would've happened but never did. :( And it's sad. This is my first time writing for this fandom and writing a slash, even, so I'm kinda nervous. Let's see how this goes. Hopefully I'll be motivated enough to continue._

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><p>Erik irresolutely approached the Xavier mansion. He stopped just outside of its boundaries, underneath a small cluster of trees. It was approaching nighttime, and he could feel the movement of the silverware from meters away. The household was eating dinner.<p>

He subconsciously reached up to his head to make sure his helmet was still on. He wanted to remain undetected.

After the Cuba incident, he left Charles injured and without a definite way of getting off of the island. As much as he tried to quell his guilt for leaving his best friend behind, after Azazel had landed them all back in New York to rescue Frost (which Erik was unsure about at first, but _she's on your side now, and you need her_), he was unable to wonder if they all managed all right, and if Charles was okay. He took the bullet out, and tried to stop the bleeding as much as he could. It wasn't a fatal blow, so he should be fine, right? But somehow Erik couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone horribly wrong. And if it did, he was to be held full responsibility.

"_She didn't do this, Erik… you did."_

He waited for hours, staring at the large house and watching the lights go out one by one as the night wore on. He watched until there was only one light still streaming through a single window: one which Erik easily identified as belonging to Charles's bedroom. Back before the missile crisis, while they were all still training and everything was so much happier, Erik used to spend late nights in that room playing chess with his friend and just talking, enjoying one another's presence. Erik had always considered himself quite the insomniac; going to sleep was often futile, since his dreams would only be plagued by his mother's dead body and Shaw's menacing smile. However, Charles was a tough competitor to boot. He explained one honest and stormy night that he had trouble sleeping since he was a child, since the noises of the minds around him oftentimes kept him up until the crack of dawn. He had since given up trying and his increased brain function that his mutation gave him allowed him to survive on less hours of sleep than the average human being, so it really wasn't a problem.

Erik waited a few more minutes until he slinked up to the house without a sound. He reached the wall directly underneath the light window, albeit a few stories down. This was not a problem, however, as he was wearing various metals in his clothing, including but not limited to a metal watch and a metal belt buckle, and he used these items to levitate up to the window with ease.

Charles enjoyed the night breeze, which is why he usually left his windows open. This was a blessing for Erik, who was able to slip into the room without causing a ruckus. As he gracefully landed, he examined his surroundings; there was a king-sized mattress, much too large for Charles alone but he could afford it so it hardly mattered, which was placed on the ground. The wooden frame of the bed was gone, and it was strewn on the floor, which was different than how Erik remembered it, and he was confused by the change of décor. He also noticed that many of the other furniture pieces had been removed as well. The side tables, the couches, the rugs-all gone. All that was left was a desk in the corner and a single small table near the door with a flower bouquet on it. A small fire was glowing at the hearth, and it illuminated the empty room; Charles was also missing.

Erik furrowed his brows in confusion. Where had everything gone? Where had Charles gone?

Both of his questions were answered in a matter of seconds as he heard running water from behind a closed door, which he could only assume was a bathroom, and slowly the door opened, as Charles Xavier rolled out.

_Rolled _out.

Erik's jaw dropped at the sight of his friend in a wheelchair. He had expected many things, but he had not expected _this_. He did this? He had taken away the legs from the only person he had ever learned to care about after the death of his mother? He couldn't process it. In fact, he was so wrapped up in the sight of his newly handicapped partner that he completely forgot that he was uninvited.

"Erik!" Charles Xavier's face lit up upon the sight of his old friend, not a hint of surprise or sadness evident in his features: just pure happiness.

Erik didn't skip a beat, snapping right back into reality.

"It's Magneto now."

"Erik, Magneto, you're the same person to me," Charles smiled, completely ignoring the seriousness in Erik's tone. "I honestly prefer the name your mother gave you."

Erik tried to ignore that last comment.

"Why aren't you surprised to see me?"

"Well, I'm surprised, of course! I didn't expect you to break into my room like this, but it's a pleasant surprise! I knew you'd come back, is Raven here as well?" He sounded hopeful.

Erik grimaced, "I'm not here to stay."

Charles's face fell.

"Oh."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Erik explained.

Charles looked down at his useless legs, then looked up at the ceiling, then looked towards the idly burning fire to his right. He was clearly upset.

"Well, you got your answer. Feel free to leave now."

Erik was slightly deterred by Charles's sudden change in demeanor, but he held his ground.

"Is… is this permanent?" He asked, referring to his legs.

There was a flash of anger in the telepath's eyes.

"Of _course_ it's permanent. I was shot in the _spine_, and it paralyzed me. I will never be able to walk again," he spat.

Erik flinched at the other man's biting tone. It sounded so wrong to hear it from his lips.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me if you're not coming back!" The fire in his eyes dimmed and he began to falter. "You've… you've already caused me enough pain leaving once. Please, make this easier for me a-and leave now before I completely lose my resolve."

The sight of Charles being so vulnerable tore Erik apart. He couldn't stand to hear his voice crack or see the tears begin to well up inside his eyes, just like that fateful day on the shores of Cuba. He felt the sudden desire to grab Charles by the arms and squeeze him tightly until all the sadness had been chased away.

"You know I can't stay, Charles," Erik pleaded, trying to buy more time with him. "But I can't leave either."

"Why?" Charles asked, regaining his composure. "You can only choose one. I won't let you play with my heart. You have to pick a side."

"Charles-"

"It's _Professor X _now," he retorted, mockingly.

"Right," Erik paused, but didn't correct himself. "Listen, I know we have our differences, but I still believe we can make this work…"

"_What_ work?" Charles made a face. "Erik, the only thing you need to work out is your own feelings. If you want to destroy the human race and become the dominant life form, go ahead. But don't come back to me and ask if we can continue as we were before when you know I do not agree with your opinions."

"Don't… don't you want to still be together?" Erik asked, trying not to sound hurt.

Charles's face softened in pity.

"Oh, my friend, you know I want that more than anything else, but I can't allow it if outside this room we will continue to be enemies. Especially not now. I'm afraid I still haven't fully recovered from that incident a few weeks ago."

Erik lowered his head, "If I could take it all back…"

Charles laughed. "I'm sorry, my friend, but it can't be undone. Listen to me. Take that silly helmet off. Let me see your whole face. Stop hiding. If you've learned to trust me at all, then you would let me enter your mind without fear of me taking advantage of it."

Erik instinctively raised his hands to the helmet once more. He had honestly forgotten he was wearing it, and now that he was aware, it was like a huge weight on his head. It was true, he wasn't sure if he should trust Charles.

After a few moments pause while Erik made no move to take it off, Charles sighed.

"If you can't trust me, then I am hardly a friend to you."

Erik lowered his hands guiltily.

"But… _you_ still trust me."

"How so?"

"No one has come bursting through the doors yet. You haven't telepathically told anyone I was here. You trust that I won't try anything. That has to mean something."

Charles nodded, impressed. "True, but even if I did, you've locked it, haven't you?"

Erik's face flushed. How had he known? It was true, upon his arrival he had promptly locked the door with a swift movement of his wrist, just in case. It would not serve useful under the power of, say, Havok, who could blast the door open in a heartbeat, but at least it would grant him some time to escape before he was able to be reached to do so.

"I know you better than you know yourself, Erik," Charles told him. "I don't need you to take off the helmet to figure you out."

Erik felt himself growing angry at that.

"Well, then you should understand why I can't stay."

Charles shook his head.

"I don't even think you understand that yourself."

"Of course I do!" Erik snapped. "It's to protect myself and my fellow mutants!"

"You're becoming exactly what Shaw wanted you to become!" Charles raised his voice, but not loud enough to wake Moira up a few rooms down. "Prove him wrong, Erik! Wasn't your mother a regular human, herself? Did she not accept you?"

"_Don't you talk about my mother like you knew her!" _Erik roared, successfully waking up the entire floor. "The humans can never accept us! We're a threat that must be destroyed! But we are more powerful than them, Charles! It's simply evolution!"

Suddenly, there was a banging at the door."Charles? _Charles!_" Moira's voice yelled through the wooden barrier. "Charles, are you okay?"

Charles looked at the door and then back at Erik, raising his eyebrow.

Erik backed himself up towards the window as Moira began to plead with Charles to respond.

"I'll be back in a few days," Erik promised, before leaping out the window and into the darkness.


	2. The Second Chance

_I had a little trouble posting this because of issues with my computer, and I thought I wasn't going to be able to. But luckily I figured it out so this can go somewhere (maybe)! Thanks for all the feedback, I'm really new at this so knowing that I'm going in the right direction is always comforting!_

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><p>As promised, a few days later Erik appeared at Charles's window late at night, when everyone else had gone to sleep.<p>

This time, Charles was propped up in bed, reading a book. He looked over to his right upon noticing his friend's arrival.

"Very nice of you to join me tonight, Erik," Charles greeted somewhat sarcastically, looking back down to his book.

A few nights prior, he had a rather difficult time explaining to Moira that _the voice of Erik __must have been inside your head, darling_, and that she _must have suffered a bought of paranoia_, and that _yes, I'm perfectly fine. I just didn't hear you. I must be going deaf; I am getting old after-all._ Whatever suspicions she had left in her mind after his poor attempt at lying were instantly wiped away with a quick tap of his fingers to his temple. He was almost regretful of it. He had promised himself he would try to stop using his powers to get his way all the time, but he had just grown so dependent on them. This left his communication skills shockingly under-developed in certain areas as a result. With his telepathic aid he was fine, but under any other circumstances he was quite debilitated.

"You've caused me an awful lot of trouble last time, my friend. I sure hope I won't have to go through _that_ again," he called, reading the same sentence over again five times.

"Put down that book, Charles, and look me in the eye."

He froze at the demanding tone. Slowly, he placed the book on the floor next to his mattress and raised his head to look at Erik. He looked off-balance.

"I'm not interested in your crazy rants about how to better the world today, my friend," Charles said tiredly. "Please, why do you keep coming back?"

"I can't just let you go, Charles."

Charles eyes fluttered to the floor. He knew of Erik's feelings for him. He had seen it in his mind, by accident of course, back when they had been recruiting. But he had kept it quiet because he didn't want to break the trust between them. It seemed a little late for that now.

"Listen, Erik…" Charles sighed.

"No, you listen, Charles." Erik interjected, which took Charles aback. "From the moment I met you, I knew we were meant to stay by each other's side. You are my only equal. I respect you. I thought a lot about what you said during our last meeting."

"Have you now?" Charles quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes. And although I don't have a decent answer for you, I still hold my stance. I can't possibly forgive humans for what they did to me… and my mother."

Charles sighed. "But they didn't do this to you, Erik… Shaw did. A mutant. One of your own kind. You think that mutants are so superior and better-intentioned, but they're not. We all have human flaws, too. Some worse than others."

"_Enough_," Erik's eyes grew dark. "I'm not here to talk about what's right and wrong. I just wanted you to know that I won't be changing my mind, so don't try to stop me. Actually, the main reason I came back in the first place was to make sure you were okay."

"Well, that much is obvious," Charles quipped. "But you already did that, and now you know. Why are you back again?"

"Like I said before, I can't just let you go, Charles."

Charles blushed softly, but he tried to hide it.

_Keep yourself together, Charles. Why are you blushing like a school girl?_

Without another word, Erik walked over and knelt down at the edge of the mattress. He gently and tentatively pressed his fingers to Charles's legs and glided them down towards his feet. Charles stared at them with an unreadable expression that made him nervous and didn't react at all to the touch. Erik gave his ankle a little squeeze before letting go. Then he looked up to Charles face, eyes full of pain. "Nothing?"

Charles shook his head sadly, "Not even a little."

Erik's heart panged to hear it. He knew Charles had become paralyzed, had seen it with his own eyes, and had even heard Charles admit it. But when he slid his fingers down the legs, they just felt so dead. Like they didn't even belong to a body anymore. It was as if Charles was half-dead, and it was all his fault. Normal legs would react to the touch; they would uncomfortably squirm, or the skin would form goosebumps, or _something_ would happen other than them just limply lying there. It scared Erik. And he felt guilty.

"If you never want to see me again, I understand." he said after a while, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I'll stop coming if it hurts you so much."

Charles stared at him, trying to catch his bluff. He wished he would just take off that stupid helmet so he could tell if he was lying or not. He hated not being able to read the other. It made him feel so out of the circle.

But Erik's face remained steady, and he was determined to keep his promise. As much as it would pain him, he would rather hurt himself than Charles. He would wish pain on the entire world before he let a single tear fall from Charles's eye. He didn't understand why he felt this way, but it was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him feel like he'd do anything for the man.

Finally, Charles sighed. Erik thought, _this is it I'm never going to see him again_.

"No, stay."

And both looked shocked at what had come out of his mouth.

_Did you really just say that? _Charles chastised himself. _Stupid Charles! What are you going to do now? Erik has made his decision to be against you. Did you really just say that out loud?_

Erik, unaware of Charles's internal battle, smiled widely, failing to contain the fluttering feeling in his heart at the response.

"Really?"

"No! Yes... I mean..." Charles looked torn.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you," Erik apologized, trying to sway Charles now that he knew he was debating his choices. He reached for his hand on his lap and took it in both of his, bringing it up to his chest. "And trust me, I'd do whatever it would take to take it back. I know we're not on the same side, but those few weeks without you felt so wrong. I just needed to make sure you were okay. And now that I'm back, I realize how much I missed you too."

He spoke truthfully, something he didn't do often, especially when it pertained to his feelings. But Charles had a way of eliciting these things out of him that no one else could, without even trying.

Nonetheless, Charles looked at him suspiciously, not sure if he was being honest or not. He realized that he knew absolutely everything about Erik yet nothing at all. He knew Erik's very mind, but his powers had made him quite unobservant to the outside. Erik's quirks, his expressions, his nervous habits, his tell-tale signs, the details of his face, Charles knew none of them. And he suddenly had a strange desire to learn them.

Charles instinctively swatted his hand away from Erik's when he couldn't think of a proper response. He felt frustrated that he couldn't even read his own emotions on top of Erik's. What had prompted his response? Surely he felt _something_. He wasn't like _that_ though, and he never would be. He had been with so many women. Albeit, he had never had a real, long-lasting relationship before, but he was king of the one-night stands. Erik was just a friend. A really, really good friend. And he missed him. His house had felt so empty his whole entire life, no matter how many material items were placed in it. It was too big, too lonely, and it cast too many shadows. When Erik came with him along with the recruits, the house had been full and bright and happy, something Charles thought it would never be. And although he was still happy, gathering new recruits and expanding his school, after Erik left the house felt a little bit more empty.

"Just don't let anyone else know I'm letting you do this," he snorted, reaching back down to his book and continuing to read. And Erik smiled, because he knew he had won.


End file.
